


if you're in love, you're the lucky one

by playedwright



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, Husbands, Kissing, M/M, Making Out, also vaguely body worship, blink and you'll miss it tho, doesnt say how they live but thats not why ur here anyway so its ok, they are in love, vaguely nsfw but like... barely
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:21:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26916541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/playedwright/pseuds/playedwright
Summary: Eddie grows accustomed to kissing Richie on what has to be an average of at least a hundred times a day. He gets so used to it that, when Richie leaves for New York to be the guest star on some late show, Eddie can’t figure out why he’s having such a difficult time falling asleep until it dawns on him that he only kissed Richie twice this morning before Richie boarded his plane.Eddie calls to tell him that, late at night after the show has already ended. He’s not surprised when Richie starts laughing, after Eddie tells him. Richie laughs so hard that Eddie hangs up on him, and when he calls back ten seconds later, he’s still giggling across the line.“It’s not that funny,” Eddie snaps.“It’s a little funny,” Richie pushes, still laughing but easy as ever. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you liked me, Edward F. Kaspbrak.”
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Comments: 15
Kudos: 323





	if you're in love, you're the lucky one

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Rickthoven](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rickthoven/gifts).



> [eric](https://twitter.com/ayyrickthoven) asked me if i could write a little something based on the prompt "gib me kiss right now... or else" and i just kind of. ran with it. essentially this boils down to they r in love. thank you eric!! i had a lot of fun with this one
> 
> tied in with this is some gorgeous artwork created by [lily](https://twitter.com/LilyMuumi). give it a like and a retweet, check it out [here](https://twitter.com/LilyMuumi/status/1314640347990032384)!!
> 
> hope you enjoy!

If Eddie thought he was touch-starved before, he learns a whole new definition for the term after he starts dating Richie. And it’s a little bit amazing, if he’s being honest. He wasn’t sure what he expected, but he knows he didn’t expect kiss-starved Richie Tozier.

It’s not just the hot and heavy kisses, though those are just a few of Eddie’s favorites. It’s the easy ones. Habitual ones. First thing in the morning after Eddie switches off his alarm and tosses an arm around Richie’s torso, hauling himself up and pressing his lips against Richie’s. Over the breakfast table, when Richie presses a cup of coffee into his hands or after Eddie sets down a plate of breakfast in front of Richie and Richie pulls them closer for a soft press of lips. When he comes home from work. When Richie’s writing. When they’re sitting on the couch. Right after he’s brushed his teeth, or after Richie brushes his.

And those are just the easy ones. Those don’t even count the desperate, eager kisses Richie covers Eddie’s body with when they’re making out. The kisses that get cut off with small little gasps when Eddie puts his hands on Richie’s body. Thorough kisses, when one or both of them are feeling particularly frisky. Kisses that don’t get deterred by their laughter, because Richie’s a tenacious fucker when he wants something, and he miraculously always wants Eddie.

So Eddie gets used to it. He grows accustomed to kissing Richie on what has to be an average of at least a hundred times a day. He gets so used to it that, when Richie leaves for New York to be the guest star on some late show, Eddie can’t figure out why he’s having such a difficult time falling asleep until it dawns on him that he only kissed Richie twice this morning before Richie boarded his plane.

Eddie calls to tell him that, late at night after the show has already ended. It’s not so late in California, and for once Eddie is thankful for the time difference if it means he gets to talk to Richie tonight. He’s not surprised when Richie starts laughing, after Eddie tells him. Richie laughs so hard that Eddie hangs up on him, and when he calls back ten seconds later, he’s still giggling across the line. Eddie can see him even if they aren’t on a video call, can see the way that Richie’s likely curled up in himself as he laughs, face bright and open and easy.

“It’s not that funny,” Eddie snaps.

“It’s a little funny,” Richie pushes, still laughing but easy as ever. His voice sounds different over the phone. Gentler. Contained in a tiny tin box that feels too far away. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you _liked_ me, Edward F. Kaspbrak.”

Eddie makes a noise of disgust.

“Oh, you can’t deny it now, baby, you went and put a ring on it,” Richie singsongs. “The proof is in the puddin’, certifiable, undeniable.”

“You’re so fucking weird,” Eddie mutters.

Richie still sounds amused as he says, “What are you gonna do, hang up on me again?”

“I could,” Eddie says, though he won’t.

“You won’t,” Richie states, matter of fact. And damn, Eddie forgets how well Richie knows him sometimes. Forgets that they’ve known each other their whole fucking lives. Forgets, some days, that their souls are so perfectly matched for one another that they saved each other from the brink of death.

He must fall quiet for too long, because Richie calls him back with a gentle tone, saying, “Eds? You still there?”

“Yeah,” Eddie says, shaking his head. “Sorry.”

“Nah, you’re good,” Richie tells him. “Way I figure it, it’s only a matter of time before you get annoyed with me and hang up for good.”

Eddie frowns, burrowing himself more into his sheets. Their sheets. Their bed, half empty. “You know, the whole point of me marrying you was to prove that there’s absolutely no chance in hell I’m gonna get annoyed with you and hang up for good.”

“Baby, I annoy you every day.”

“Yeah, well. I do the same shit to you every day. And you love me anyway.”

Relenting, Richie says, “Yeah, okay.”

Eddie smiles to himself. He feels sleepy, now. Finally. Talking to Richie helps. It’s not quite the same, but it’s almost their routine, and that’s good enough for tonight. “So can you shut the fuck up and realize that I love you anyway, too?”

“Hm,” Richie says. “Maybe if you tell me again.”

“For god’s sake,” Eddie mutters, though both of them know he’d say it again and again in a heartbeat without needing to be asked twice. “I love you, dipshit.”

Richie’s voice is quiet. “One more time? For the people in the back.”

“I love you,” Eddie says. No teasing. Just straight to the point. Lucky he gets to say it at all.

“I love you, too,” Richie finally whispers back. The words still make Eddie’s heart skip a beat in his scarred-over chest. He wonders if those words will ever stop making him feel like he could cry. “Hey, miss you, Eddie baby. So fuckin’ much.”

“Come home to me, then,” Eddie says in a soft voice. He cradles the phone soft to his ear. It’s not enough. Richie’s still too far away.

Richie’s voice hitches over the line. “First thing tomorrow,” he promises. “You gonna let me get in my hour nap before I can board my plane in the morning, or what?”

“I guess,” Eddie relents. “What time’s your flight take off?”

“Five-twenty,” Richie says. “I’ll be back by nine our time.”

Eddie glances at the clock and does the math in his head. “You’re really only gonna sleep for an hour?”

“I’ll sleep on the plane, too,” Richie promises. “Are you gonna go to sleep, or do I have to stay on the line with you ‘til you knock out?”

“I mean,” Eddie starts, but he cuts himself off before he can finish the thought. It’s still hard, asking for things sometimes. Even though it’s Richie. Even though Richie has no problem giving him everything he asks for and more. “No, it’s okay, I can sleep.”

Richie lets out a careful breath. “Eds, do you want me to stay on the line? ‘Cause I will, baby, you know that.”

“I don’t want to keep you up,” Eddie protests, and he means that. If Richie’s got to leave to go to the airport in an hour, Eddie won’t be the one to keep Richie up later than he needs to be just because he isn’t used to falling asleep without a warm body in bed next to him. Eddie had a whole marriage before this, before _Richie,_ where they slept in separate beds more often than not, and now Eddie’s so spoiled that he can’t go one night without having Richie right by him.

“Honestly, it’ll help me fall asleep, too,” Richie admits. Eddie doesn’t know if that’s true, or if Richie’s just saying it to convince Eddie that it’s okay, but he loves Richie for saying it at all. For offering. For loving Eddie despite all the neurocies. “Guess I’m kind of used to your snoring now.”

Eddie makes an affronted sound. “I do _not_ snore—!”

But Richie’s soft, sleepy laughter cuts him off. It’s not even another second before Richie yawns, so loud that Eddie can hear it over the line.

“You should go to bed,” Eddie says, even though he’s the reason Richie’s still up at all. “You had a big night.”

“Did you catch the show?” Richie asks. His voice is hopeful and timid. As though he genuinely believes there’s a universe where Eddie won't tune in to anything streaming Richie’s face or voice to see or hear him in real time. 

“Course I did, dummy,” Eddie tells him. “You did so good. They love you, you know. Now that they get the real you. They think you’re great. And you are.”

Richie’s voice is closer to sleep now by the time he answers. “Careful,” he murmurs. “You keep complimenting me and my ego’s gonna get even bigger.”

“Don’t think that’s possible,” Eddie teases. “Hey, Rich?”

Richie hums.

“Love you,” Eddie whispers, as his own eyes start to drift closed. It’s not the kiss he’s been searching for since this morning, but it’s as close as he can get right now. He’ll take that. “Sweet dreams.”

“Love you, baby,” Richie murmurs back, and Eddie falls asleep counting Richie’s breaths over the line.

* * *

He wakes up to his bed creaking.

It should scare him. It would have, a few years ago. Before Richie. But he’s used to it now. Richie coming home and waking him up by crawling into their bed and covering Eddie’s body with his own. Eddie can’t think of a better way to wake up, if he’s being entirely honest.

Richie’s legs straddle either side of Eddie’s hips. And, well. That’s certainly a better way.

“Mmph,” Eddie mumbles, still closer to sleep than he cares to be while they’re in this position. He peeks open one eye, squinting at Richie as he hovers above him. He can’t help the soft smile that crosses his face. “No, no, I can’t. I have a husband.”

“Oh, I didn’t know you had a _husband,_ ” Richie says. He’s undoing the buttons of his god-awful shirt and slipping it off, tossing it unceremoniously onto the floor. Eddie frowns.

“Yes,” he whines. “And he’s a lot neater than you.”

Richie lets out a laugh that shakes Eddie underneath him. But he must think Eddie is at least a little bit serious, because he climbs out of bed as he shrugs out of his undershirt, too, and puts both of them in the hamper in the corner of their room before crawling back into bed with Eddie. “Why don’t you tell me more about this husband of yours?”

Eddie huffs again, still sleepy but dragging himself slowly into full consciousness. It helps, that Richie’s back now. Richie being here is an incentive for Eddie to do more things than he cares to admit to anyone. “Well, he wouldn’t be happy if he knew I had a stranger in my bed. He likes me all to himself, you know.”

Richie hums. He puts a hand on Eddie’s bare chest. The coolness of his wedding ring against Eddie’s skin is enough to make Eddie shudder a bit. “I can see why,” Richie tells him. “I’d be selfish with you, too, if I were him.”

“Too bad you aren’t him,” Eddie says, with a long, drawn-out sigh.

“I could be,” Richie tells him helpfully.

Eddie shakes his head. “Mmm. Nope. My husband is clean-shaven, thank you very much.”

Richie frowns. “I thought you liked the beard.”

“Oh, I like the beard,” Eddie promises. He reaches up and puts his hand to Richie’s cheek, smiling when he leans into it. “Keep up with the game here, sweetheart.”

“I don’t like this game anymore, it’s keeping me from kissing my husband good morning,” Richie says, voice almost a whine. Eddie drops his hand to Richie’s chest, mimicking the way Richie’s touching him now.

Eddie sighs, feigning being put out. “I should have known, you have a husband, too,” he says, mock-serious.

“Eddie,” Richie whines. He catches Eddie’s insistently. It’s almost cute, in a way it shouldn’t be considering Richie’s still straddling him, and how they’ve now gone a full twenty-four hours without kissing. Eddie shouldn’t find it _cute._ Still, he bites back a smile, and it only gets worse when Richie gives him an exaggerated frown.

Laughing, Eddie says, “Oh my god, what is it?”

“Give me a kiss,” Richie says. Not quite a demand, but not quite a question either. It makes Eddie grin even harder.

Eddie raises an eyebrow, trying to seem more serious than he feels. “Oh, right now?”

“No, in twelve minutes,” Richie snipes. “Yes, right now.”

It’s fun to tease Richie like this. Fun to trail his fingers lightly up Richie’s arm. Fun to watch Richie’s expression go most insistent the longer Eddie pretends to think about it. “Hmm. How about later?”

Richie lets out a petulant, near-childish huff of air. “No,” he whines. He pokes Eddie’s cheek sharply, right in the dimple, and doesn’t even look sorry when Eddie yelps in surprise.

“What was that for?” Eddie asks, burrowing his head deeper into the pillow. Richie’s expression softens. He gets like that, sometimes. Changes the mood from silly to serious whenever he feels particularly fond of something Eddie’s done. His eyes are near shining as he looks at Eddie now. Eddie’s rarely been looked at like this before. Almost exclusively by Richie. It makes his own expression soften, too.

“Give me a kiss right now, or else…”

“Or else you’ll kiss me yourself?” Eddie asks, voice teasing and soft. 

Richie contemplates this. He seems to reach the conclusion that either way, he wins in this scenario, so he says smugly, “Yeah. Or else I’ll kiss you myself.”

“Oh, well if my options are kissing you or facing the wrath of your _‘or else’_ ,” Eddie tells him, very seriously. Richie perks up, and Eddie has to try hard to keep his breathing steady and to keep himself from laughing again.

Richie raises an expectant eyebrow. “Well?” he asks, obnoxious and loud and perfect as ever.

“Oh, come on, then,” Eddie laughs, and he twines an arm around Richie’s neck to finally pull him in for a kiss.

They kiss softly. Easily. Like they know they have time for the more desperate kisses, in a few minutes or in an hour or wherever they feel like it. Time goes fast, or perhaps they’re both a little bit desperate, because when Richie puts his hand on Eddie’s hip and slots their chests together better, Eddie lets out a huff of air that opens his mouth just enough, and Richie tentatively presses the tip of his tongue to Eddie’s bottom lip.

Eddie deepens the kiss like it’s the easiest thing he’s ever done. In certain ways, Eddie supposes it is. Richie’s the easiest choice he’s ever made. The easiest choice he’ll continue to make, every day for the rest of his life. Eddie sucks Richie’s tongue into his mouth with the kind of practiced ease that he’s only learned after spending years kissing Richie. Richie groans into the kiss. He shifts up, changing the angle of it and slotting his tongue against Eddie’s better.

Eddie slides his hands down Richie’s bare back slowly, teasing, laughing as Richie shivers and tries to press even closer. When Eddie palms Richie’s ass, Richie’s stuttered gasp breaks their kiss.

“Tease,” Richie grits out.

“You wanted me to kiss you,” Eddie reminds him.

Richie sighs, and Eddie takes advantage of the momentary distraction to wrap his arms around Richie’s waist and flip them over, until he’s resting on top of Richie’s chest. Richie’s laughing, by the time they settle. He raises an eyebrow. “Oh, it’s like that?”

“If you want it to be,” Eddie tells him, shrugging.

“Baby, you know I always want,” Richie laughs, though there’s nothing but sincerity in his tone. Eddie knows he means it. Hell, he feels the same way too. As much as he says it’s Richie that’s the kiss-starved one, Richie that’s the touchy one, Eddie’s just as bad. Ever since he first got his hands on Richie, he’s always wanted more.

Eddie reaches up and brushes a stray curl off of Richie’s forehead. Richie smiles at him, soft and beautiful. “I love you, you know that?” Eddie tells him.

“I do,” Richie says. He sounds a little surprised.

He bends down, pressing a kiss to Richie’s jawline, right below his ear. It’s different, kissing a scruff-covered Richie. Eddie loves him just the same. “Can I tell you more about that husband of mine now?”

“Lil ole’ me?” Richie teases, a little bit breathless. His fingers are tracing a light pattern along Eddie’s side.

“Richie, there’s nothing little about you,” Eddie states. He smiles into Richie’s neck when he starts to laugh. “And I mean that as a compliment, fuckface.”

“Oh, I know,” Richie assures him. “Alright, you weirdo. Tell me about that husband of yours.”

Eddie starts off by pressing a kiss to Richie’s collarbone. He relishes in the way that Richie takes a deep breath. “This husband of mine,” Eddie begins. He noses further down Richie’s chest. “He’s very handsome, you know. And very smart.”

“Sounds like a bore,” Richie says. Eddie retaliates by biting a spot on Richie’s chest, tugging the skin between his teeth and soothing it with a soft press of his tongue.

Richie makes a choked out sound, half strangled. Not quite certain he can let it out. Something Eddie has learned since getting together with Richie is that it takes some convincing, for Richie to be loud in bed. Eddie smooths his hands up Richie’s side and hopes it conveys that it’s alright. It’s always alright, as far as Eddie’s concerned, but he likes working Richie up. Likes listening for Richie to go from hesitant to desperate underneath Eddie’s hands and mouth. Richie’s gorgeous all the time, but some of his greatest hits are when he lets himself fall apart like this.

“You’ve never met him if you think he’s a bore,” Eddie continues. Richie shudders when Eddie brushes the pad of his thumb across his nipple. “He’s actually one of the most expressive people I’ve ever met.”

“Expressive,” Richie repeats. His voice wavers when Eddie replaces his thumb with his tongue and sucks lightly. “A-ah!”

“Vibrant,” Eddie continues. He noses down Richie’s stomach. “Captures the attention of everyone every time he walks into a room, you know. Just because of how bright he is. And he knows it. Knows how to work the room. Knows how to get their eyes on him and keep them there. And he’s funny. Sometimes.”

Richie sucks in a sharp breath when Eddie’s mouth reaches the top of his boxers. Eddie’s not entirely sure when Richie shucked off his pants, but he won’t complain. He trails his hands down Richie’s sides slowly, before encouraging his hips up just enough that Eddie can reach down and palm his ass once again.

“Handsy,” Richie murmurs.

“Mm, he is sometimes,” Eddie continues, still playing the bit. It’s not often Richie allows Eddie to so openly compliment him like this. He’ll soak it up for as long as he can. “But he knows I love it. He’s got very big hands, you know. Loves to touch me with them. Rile me up. He’s very good at that.”

Richie’s voice is thick when he says, “You know what they say about men with big hands.”

Eddie smirks. He pulls himself back up, covering Richie’s body as best as he can with his own, and settling on Richie’s chest. He quirks an eyebrow and waits, just for a moment, before Richie’s gaze finally settles back on him. With a teasing tone, Eddie says, “What, that they’ve got even bigger egos?”

“He says, while feeding into mine graciously,” Richie gripes. Eddie leans down and kisses him again. Part of him feels as though he’s gone too long without kissing Richie, even though it _can’t_ have been more than ten minutes. Even though he’s had his mouth on Richie practically this whole time.

Sometimes he feels like a teenager, with the way he only wants to kiss Richie. Sometimes he thinks that’s all they could do, every day for the rest of their life, and he’d be okay. He supposes part of it comes from the fact that he and Richie found—or refound, in a way—each other so late in life. Part of it also probably comes from the fact that they wanted one another for damn near thirty years before they were able to be together.

He thinks Richie feels the same. He’s extra certain of that today, with the way that Richie’s arms wrap around Eddie’s torso to keep him close. With the careful way that Richie slides his tongue into Eddie’s mouth. With the gentle scrape of his teeth against Eddie’s bottom tongue. They’ve earned a few makeouts like this. One or two times where they can kiss like they’re kids and just enjoy the fact that they get to do it at all.

Eddie reaches up and eases Richie’s glasses off his face, stretching until he finds the end table to place them on, then runs his fingers through Richie’s hair and uses his grip to angle the kiss better. He swallows the noise that Richie makes when he tugs, and matches it with his own strangled gasp when Richie sucks Eddie’s tongue into his mouth.

Richie’s hands feel huge on his back. They always do, but they have a way of driving Eddie specifically insane whenever they kiss like this. One hand dips lower, lower, until it slides under the waistline of Eddie’s briefs, just enough to tease. Eddie whines, and Richie lets out a laugh like he knows exactly what he’s doing.

“Now who's the tease?” Eddie asks.

“Says the man who started complimenting me just to get distracted by sticking his tongue down my throat,” Richie shoots back.

Eddie raises an eyebrow. “Is that complaining I hear? Complaints about my kissing from the man I married?”

“Oh, of course not,” Richie says seriously. “The man you married never has anything to complain about. Ever.”

Unable to stop it before it bursts out of him, Eddie lets out a sharp, cackling laugh. Richie takes advantage of the distraction, shifting their positions again until he’s got Eddie pinned back into the mattress. Eddie’s still laughing by the time Richie settles back down on top of him. “Really? Still laughing? Way to bruise my big-ass ego.”

Eddie reaches up, cradling Richie’s face in his hands. “Somehow, I think you’ll be fine,” he says seriously, and when Richie frowns, he cracks up laughing again.

“Made fun of by my own husband,” Richie complains. He collapses on the mattress, into the spot right next to Eddie. Their bodies curl together like parentheses. “The one person who vowed to love me unconditionally.”

“Oh, no, baby, there were definitely conditions,” Eddie tells him. He brushes another strand of hair off of Richie’s forehead.

Richie leans into it, closing his eyes. “I always knew I’d marry a man who came with conditions.”

“Idiot,” Eddie says fondly. “The only condition I care about is that you still fucking love me at the end of the day. Even after I’m an asshole to you or if I say stupid shit or if I tease you in bed even though what I really want to be doing is kissing you senseless.”

“Oh, well, if that’s what you really want to be doing,” Richie starts, and Eddie’s still laughing when Richie closes the space between them and kisses him again.

It’s a different angle like this, lying side by side. Good. Eddie puts his hands on the back of Richie’s neck and Richie twines his arms around Eddie’s back. Eddie slots a knee between Richie’s thighs, until their hips are pressed more closely together and there’s no mistaking that either of them are turned on by this.

Richie licks the backsides of Eddie’s teeth and groans when Eddie mimics the action. When Richie tugs Eddie’s bottom lip gently between his teeth, Eddie lets him swallow the stuttered gasp he lets out. His fingers twine into the curls at the base of Richie’s neck, and he uses them as leverage to tug Richie’s head back just enough that he can take control of the kiss.

“You’re gonna kill me, one of these days, you know that?” Richie says, when Eddie pulls away from his mouth and starts pressing kisses along Richie’s jawline. He scrapes his teeth against the skin and grins when Richie shudders underneath him.

“Can I leave a mark?” Eddie asks, finding a spot he likes on Richie’s neck and pressing his nose there to show where he intends to.

Richie’s voice is strained when he says, “I mean, what am I gonna say? No?’

“Well, maybe you have another fancy late night show coming up,” Eddie murmurs. “Don’t want you to be embarrassed, showing up on national television with a giant hickey on your neck.”

“Baby, trust me when I say I’m not leaving you again for a long, long time,” Richie promises, and Eddie presses down on the spot he’d chosen.

He kisses the skin first. It’s a good spot, low enough on Richie’s neck that it wouldn’t be impossible to hide if he chose to. His skin is soft under Eddie’s teeth. He used to dislike hickeys, just because the concept of them seemed undesirable, but he gets it now. He can feel Richie’s warmth when he presses his tongue to the skin. He can enjoy the way that Richie gets a little bit louder the messier Eddie makes the kiss. And he can enjoy it, for hours afterwards. Sitting in a room with all of their friends, looking at Richie and marvelling at the mark on his neck that makes it clear to anyone who sees him that he is a taken man.

Richie had teased him, when he’d brought this up once. Had mentioned that the wedding ring says basically the same thing. Eddie had argued it’s different, and had proved his point by marking up Richie in as many spaces as he could find.

He bites now, gently. Sucks the skin between his teeth until Richie’s sharp gasp fills the air, then he lets go. He soothes it with a flick of his tongue. Seals his lips over the mark again tugs the skin in with his tongue this time. He repeats it, just a few times, until Richie is gasping underneath him and his hand is grasping at the sheets.

“Good?” Eddie asks, like he doesn’t already know the answer. Like there’s ever been a time that he’s asked that and had Richie respond _no, Eddie, that was actually terrible._

“Guh,” Richie answers. His eyes are still squeezed shut. Eddie grins, pleased with himself. Wonders how he can have years of this and still feel so smug every time he reduces Richie to incomprehensible babbling.

Eddie shifts back up, pressing a kiss to the corner of Richie’s mouth. Richie peeks out of one eye and smiles when he catches Eddie’s gaze. Softly, he says, “Hey, you.”

“Hey, me,” Eddie agrees. “Are you expecting someone else?”

“Mmhm,” Richie hums. “My other husband.”

Eddie nods, mock-serious. He knows if he plays along, it’ll only be a second before Richie caves. It’s one of his favorite things about Richie—like Richie can’t go more than ten seconds without making it clear that Eddie’s the one he loves. “Ah, I see. You greet him the way you greet me when you get home from a trip?”

“Nah, that’s just for you,” Richie tells him. “Special treatment for my mistress.”

“You wish I was your mistress,” Eddie says around a laugh.

Richie twines his arms around Eddie once again and pulls him down for another kiss. He always holds Eddie like Eddie is something that deserves to be held with care. Not delicate, which is a distinction Eddie thinks is important. Never babied. Always held with care.

Eddie deepens the kiss after a moment. He can’t help it. He missed Richie, and this morning has just proved to him how good they have it with one another. If he has it his way, Richie won’t go away for a night ever again.

He says as much, when Richie pulls away and pecks Eddie’s lips gently. And Richie laughs, shoulders shaking until Eddie’s laughing along with him. “I’m serious,” Eddie tells him. “I’m coming with you next time.”

“Yeah? You gonna be my trophy husband when I go on tour? Say ‘fuck you’ to all your clients?” Richie teases. He runs his fingers through Eddie’s hair, scratching at his scalp lightly in a way that has Eddie shivering against him.

“They’d be fine without me, I barely have any here anyway,” Eddie says, and he’s surprised that he means it. He’s become less of a workaholic since moving here. Since moving in with Richie. Since marrying him. He finds he doesn’t regret it in the slightest. “And if anything, you’re my trophy husband.”

Richie laughs again. “Oh, yeah? You rakin’ in the big celebrity bucks with your stellar reputation as risk analyst in Los Angeles?”

“Yeah, obviously,” Eddie answers.

“Oh, alright,” Richie relents. Eddie closes the small distance between them to kiss Richie again. “You can come with me, I suppose. Prove to everyone that I’m not faking it. Can’t discredit the guy with the sexy husband hanging off his arm.”

Eddie lets out a huff of air. “You act like me coming with you isn’t a win for both of us.”

“I think it’s just a win for you, you touch-starved cretin.”

“Excuse the fuck out of me,” Eddie says, incredulous. “Have you looked in a mirror recently, name-caller?”

Richie starts to laugh again. “Name-caller? That’s the best you got?”

“Fuck off!”

“Eddie, baby, you literally called me less than eight hours ago to tell me you couldn’t sleep because I hadn’t kissed you recently,” Richie reminds him, as though Eddie had somehow forgotten that last night was the first night in nearly two years that he’d had to spend in a bed without Richie. “Out of the two of us, I think it’s fair to call you the clingy one.”

Eddie rolls his eyes. “You wanna see clingy?”

“Is that a come-on?”

“Oh my god, will you shut the fuck up?” Eddie yells, and he kisses Richie before he can say anything else. Richie’s still laughing against his mouth even as he kisses back. These are, truthfully, some of the best kisses. Open-mouthed, and a little bit broken up when neither of them can stop from laughing. Eddie loves it when Richie laughs. Real laughs. Loves when he makes it happen.

Richie’s smiling by the time Eddie pulls back. “For what it’s worth, I missed you, too,” he says.

“I’d hope so,” Eddie murmurs. “Otherwise I married you for nothing.”

“Oh, well if it was for nothing,” Richie says, and he starts to get up. Eddie pushes him back into bed and swallows his laughter with another eager kiss. Like they have all the time in the world.

**Author's Note:**

> you can find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/SPACERICHlE) if you want to come say hello!


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